On Red Hat 9:

```bash
gpg --full-generate-key --expert
```
```
gpg (GnuPG) 2.3.3; Copyright (C) 2021 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

Please select what kind of key you want:
(1) RSA and RSA (default)
(2) DSA and Elgamal
(3) DSA (sign only)
(4) RSA (sign only)
(7) DSA (set your own capabilities)
(8) RSA (set your own capabilities)
(9) ECC and ECC
(10) ECC (sign only)
(11) ECC (set your own capabilities)
(13) Existing key
(14) Existing key from card
Your selection? 9
Please select which elliptic curve you want:
(1) Curve 25519
(2) Curve 448
(3) NIST P-256
(4) NIST P-384
(5) NIST P-521
(9) secp256k1
Your selection? 1
Please specify how long the key should be valid.
0 = key does not expire
<n> = key expires in n days
<n>w = key expires in n weeks
<n>m = key expires in n months
<n>y = key expires in n years
Key is valid for? (0)
Key does not expire at all
Is this correct? (y/N) y

GnuPG needs to construct a user ID to identify your key.

Real name: CENSORED
Email address:
Comment:
You selected this USER-ID:
"CENSORED"

Change (N)ame, (C)omment, (E)mail or (O)kay/(Q)uit? O
We need to generate a lot of random bytes. It is a good idea to perform
some other action (type on the keyboard, move the mouse, utilize the
disks) during the prime generation; this gives the random number
generator a better chance to gain enough entropy.
gpg: agent_genkey failed: No pinentry
Key generation failed: No pinentry
```

How to avoid the error:

```
gpg: agent_genkey failed: No pinentry
Key generation failed: No pinentry
```

as I do not want to specify a passphrase?
Jun 2, 10:21pm

The error gpg: agent_genkey failed: No pinentry occurs because GnuPG (GPG) requires a pinentry program to securely prompt for a passphrase, even if you don't want to set one. On Red Hat 9 (or similar systems), this is often due to missing or misconfigured pinentry packages.

Solution: Install and Configure pinentry

1. Install pinentry

Run the following command to install a pinentry program (e.g., pinentry-tty for terminal use or pinentry-gtk/pinentry-qt for GUI):

bash
sudo dnf install pinentry-tty

If you prefer a GUI-based pinentry (e.g., for graphical environments), install one of these instead:

bash
sudo dnf install pinentry-gtk   # For GTK-based environments
# or
sudo dnf install pinentry-qt    # For Qt-based environments

2. Set the Default Pinentry Program

Edit or create the GPG agent configuration file to specify the pinentry program:

bash
echo "pinentry-program $(which pinentry-tty)" >> ~/.gnupg/gpg-agent.conf

If you installed a GUI pinentry (e.g., pinentry-gtk), replace pinentry-tty with the appropriate binary.

3. Restart the GPG Agent

Reload the GPG agent to apply the changes:

bash
gpgconf --kill gpg-agent
gpgconf --launch gpg-agent

4. Retry Key Generation

Run the key generation command again:

bash
gpg --full-generate-key --expert

When prompted for a passphrase, leave it empty (press Enter twice) to create a key without a passphrase.

5. (Optional) Disable Passphrase Requirement

If you absolutely do not want a passphrase (not recommended for security), you can force GPG to skip the pinentry prompt by setting:

bash
export GPG_TTY=$(tty)

Add this line to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc to make it permanent.

Why This Works

  • pinentry is required by GPG to securely handle passphrase prompts, even if you don't set one.
  • By installing and configuring pinentry, GPG can proceed with key generation without failing.
  • Leaving the passphrase empty is allowed, but not recommended for production keys (as it reduces security).
Jun 2, 10:21pm

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